


Ruins & Reunions

by Its_real_for_us



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anticipation, Bisexual Characters, Christmas, Emotional Hurt, Fear, Friends to Lovers, Heartbreak, Internalized Homophobia, Love, Multi, Polyamory, The Golden Trio, Throuple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:33:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26365762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Its_real_for_us/pseuds/Its_real_for_us
Summary: "I- I thought we could all be happy," Hermione avowed as she lowered her eyes. The words left her mouth before she'd even had the time to consider the utter grandeur of them.Tears now covered her favourite wool blanket and the tiny box she still held so dearly in her hands. Her breaths caught in her throat. Harry and Ron had always been her family, her only after the war. She wanted nothing more but to be with them both, forever.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter/Ron Weasley
Comments: 3
Kudos: 145





	Ruins & Reunions

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written a throuple. It's completely out of my comfort zone...

Ron handed a small scarlet box to Hermione, a slight smile played at his lips. Lovingly, she grabbed it from his deft fingers.

"Thank you," Hermione mouthed.

Every Christmas Eve, they'd exchange one gift before the stroke of midnight. It was a tradition Hermione had shared with her parents when she was still a little girl, one she'd brought with her into adulthood ever since.

"I hope you like it," Ron uttered softly as she undid the small, well-tied white bow. Hermione opened the little coffer, trying to will her hands to stop shaking.

There, in front of her, a delicate golden locket rested. Hermione beamed as her eyes widened with delight for what seemed like the first time in forever.

"Ron," she hummed.

Gently, Hermione took out the chain, appreciating the intricate swirls on the front of the medallion. Quickly, she noticed the bare resemblance it shared to the one Minerva and Flitwick always wore underneath their robes.

Hermione wasn't sure if it was just another rumour, but she'd swore she heard stories of all professors having that shared locket. She cocked up an eyebrow, carefully studying the engraved design. It wasn't any odd assemble of lines. She'd seen these markings before. Hermione was quite certain of it.

Carefully, she pondered on, trying to recall old textbooks from her time as a student. Hermione grinned widely, just now remembering where she'd seen such markings, "Ancient Ruins." Ron only stared at her silently, allowing her to figure out the rest of the puzzle. "Are these the Hogwarts ruins, the ones Muggles see?"

Ron nodded, "yes, they are."

Hermione had just accepted a teaching role at Hogwarts, both for Transfiguration and Muggle Studies. She smiled. _How nice of him to get me one! I hear some professors don't get theirs for years and years._

"But aren't they usually silver?" Hermione queried. "Of course not that I mind, I happen to prefer this, I just-" _I'm so embarrassing, Christ._ Hermione blushed. "It's just this one is gold."

"You're so cute," Ron admitted.

"That's fortunate you think so." The flush on Hermione's cheeks had only grown more crimson in colour.

"I wanted to make it extra special, so, I got it in gold. That's all."

"What? That must've been a fortune. Ron, you didn't have to!" Ron only smiled his response.

"Here," he voiced, taking it into his hands. "Let me put it on for you."

Gently, Ron moved Hermione's atypically straight locks over her freckled shoulder and fastened the spring-ring clasp around her neck. Softly, he peppered kisses to her milk-white skin, slowly working his way up to her pulse point.

Before Hermione knew it, Ron had licked and sucked at her throat for minutes, leaving small marks in his path. Hermione couldn't help but shutter under his touch. They'd just endured such a tough year. Hermione was tired of the constant aching throb that never ceased to pound just underneath her ribcage.

_One moment of solace, please._

It wouldn't leave. To be honest, as the weeks passed-the ache she'd been experiencing for months-solely seemed to deepen. Not even entirely aware of all her repressed emotions and held-in tension, Hermione fell into Ron's arms bonelessly.

"I- I thought we could all be happy," Hermione avowed as she lowered her eyes. The words left her mouth before she'd even had the time to consider the utter grandeur of them.

Tears now covered her favourite wool blanket and the tiny box she still held so dearly in her hands. Her breaths caught in her throat. Harry and Ron had always been her family, her only after the war. She wanted nothing more but to be with them both, forever.

Hermione sighed, feeling the pressure of Ron's fingertips brush her stomach.

"Bloody hell 'Mione, don't think of that..." Ron kissed his wife's cheek and walked to the kitchen of their small flat. "The turkey's probably ready."

Ron had always had a bad habit of escaping situations before they could even consider doing the same to him. He began cutting up some carrots for the stew Hermione had already started earlier in the day, unsubtly trying to hide the tears that pooled at his eyes.

"It's almost Christmas." Hermione waited for her lover's response, but as she expected, Ron didn't reply. "He lives at the old Dursley's home, the one he grew up in. It's a pretty good resting place Neville told me since _they_ don't actually live there ever since before the war."

"Didn't you hear him?" Ron asked, seeming to reminisce back on that horrendous night almost six months ago. "He wants absolutely nothing to do with us."

Hermione cringed remembering the sound of Harry's yells as he slammed the door to never return. She knew that there was no way she was the only one constantly haunted by that memory. _I'm not alone in this hurt. Ron's only better at pretending he's okay._

"We sent letters, McGonagall- There's nothing more we can do. He doesn't want us."

"But," Hermione quivered, "we have to try, at least one more time. It's almost Christmas, love." Hermione took Ron's hand in hers and stared into his lovely, vibrant blue eyes. "I know you miss him as well. I can't be the only one."

Ron diverted his gaze, saltwater tears now falling from his orbs. Hermione grabbed his face in her palms, forcing the wizard to look at her. She wiped the pad of her thumb on Ron's cheek, catching the moisture before it could fall from his chin.

"Let's go," Hermione voiced as she grabbed his hand. She could tell he was still wary, but in the end, Ron let himself be dragged. _He wants this, too. I know it._

The pair went into their cosy bedroom, decorated in mostly Gryffindor colours, and grabbed a couple of their belongings. Fear tugged at Hermione's heartstrings. She was frightened. It had been so long, and it had all ended so bad, so fast. _Please, let this go well._

Just before they decided to Apparate, Hermione closed the distance between she and Ron, giving him a chaste but true kiss. _Mhm. Okay, breathe._

It was only a couple of hours before the end of the 24th when Hermione and Ron had finally made it to the Dursley's. Little Whinging was quite chilly that evening, the lands covered in a thin layer of just-fallen, fluffy snow.

"Maybe you were right," Hermione stuttered, barely allowing herself to read the address- Number 4, Privet Drive. Hermiome didn't know what she expected from Harry's childhood home. She'd seen it in passing before, but it really was like so many other houses she'd seen, nothing out of the ordinary.

Hermione turned to Ron, who seemed to be having a somewhat similar inner monologue. Weirdly enough, the normalcy of it all, _"in the house of horrors"_ , only made it that uncannier.

"We came all this way. We must, at least, try." Ron clutched onto Hermione tightly before she could take any further steps back. _Why is it that I'm brave up until it actually comes time to pounce?_ Hermione thought, trying to silence the doubts that started to creep at the back of her mind.

"He doesn't want us. You're right," she agreed as Ron stepped forward, bringing them into the drive. Hermione protested for a bit longer before her husband was able to convince her.

"I've got you," Ron said, bringing Hermione into a tight hug. "I won't let you go, no matter what happens. You can trust me. I promise," he whispered into her ear.

Both their eyes welled up with tears before they made the final stretch to the door. Ron knocked. Hermione swallowed hard. She couldn't believe Harry was now merely a couple of meters away from their reach.

The two stayed in the cold, hands almost touching, breaths uneven, when the door finally cracked open. A messy-haired, very restless, man appeared in front of them. _Harry._

A mesh of earthy hues with burning flecks, the ocean blue, and the forest wild crashed together. Their eyes were but a cornucopia of many of the elements; of all the Hogwarts houses in a single stare. _Water and fire and earth and forest and wind._

Harry stood there only wearing pyjamas, mouth agape in shock. He swung the door all the way open and looked down at his carmine and verdant green mistletoe socks.

Hermione sighed in disbelief. He seems so lonely. Neville and Luna, when they'd passed by the other day at the flat with their newborn baby girl in hand, had warned her. But this was more painful than anything Hermione had expected.

"What are you-" Harry shocked out, discernably queasy.

"We didn't want you to spend Christmas alone, mate," Ron said as he grabbed Hermione's hand. The tension in the room could've easily been cut with a knife in two.

"H- Harry, we miss you," Hermione admitted. She was defeated. She couldn't hold back all these feelings she was feeling so strongly. "We never wanted you to leave us."

"I had to go. I had no choice..."

"Why?" Hermione wondered, scared of the answer that would follow.

"Y- You both, you were so happy, and then, I came in. I ruined what you both had with my _feelings_." Harry eyed the wood planks under his Christmas socks again, but this time a familiar touch brushed against his jawline. It was Hermione's nimble fingers.

"I love you, Harry," Hermione said softly, allowing herself to melt against the warmth that was his skin. _I missed you so much. You have no idea how much._

"I know you do. I love you, but Ron, I know I stole you from him. He never wanted this; me, even less, us."

Hermione new it was both true and false, all in the same breath. _Indeed_ , maybe Ron had never admitted to loving Harry the way he loved her. He'd never been as much really intimate with him, to speak. It had always been them both with her, nothing more, nothing less. Though that didn't mean Ron didn't love Harry that way. _Ron does love Harry. I know it._

Ron began fidgeting with his cuticles, pulling at bits of skin. He refused to look at either one of them.

"Ron, I know you love him," Hermione spoke. Over the years, she'd come to see his true heart and how big it really was. _He's never had the emotional range of a teaspoon. If anything, he's probably the most emotional of us three._

_Ron, the child who felt least loved by his mother who wished for a girl after so many boys. Ron, the one who felt like he was the least useful of the trio, even if that couldn't be further from the truth. Ron, the boy who thought I could never love him back._

Hermione was about to start sobbing. _He needs to admit this. He has to._

"He doesn't, I assure you, he-" Harry sighed, but before another word could escape his lips, Ron had taken Harry's last remaining breath. _Gods, finally!_

Their lips were pressed together in a hungry hold. Harry pulled back after a minute or so, a toothy smile playing at his lips. The pure happiness evident on his visage, he gestured to Hermione to come closer as well.

The three hugged, long and unwaveringly so.

"We want you back," Hermiome uttered. "Remember, The Golden Trio, it's us forever. At least it's supposed to be..."

"I love you, Harry," Ron finally proclaimed as Hermiome took out the gold ring she'd held onto this whole time.

"Please, Harry..." Hermiome's caramel eyes burned into Harry's. He simply nodded his head, extending his hand as Hermione slipped the ring onto his long finger, sealing their eternal bond.

The three lovers watched carefully as their magic danced in front of them, flipping and swirling through the air in summersaults. They laughed joyfully as their collective powers caressed their bodies, the sound of church bells ringing in the distant.

And though Hermione was sure she was probably the only one who heard them, she smiled. _This is the best Christmas since childhood!_

"What?" Hermione asked seeing the weird expression on Harry's face as he looked down at her chest, pulling her out of her reverie.

"Professor 'Mione?" Harry declared. _My locket, oh._ A slow blush rose to Hermione's cheeks.

"Yes, Transfiguration and Muggle Studies."

"Wow, both? I'm so happy for you!" Harry smiled, seeming visibly proud before he, too, pulled out a chain from under his grey pyjama shirt. It was the same medallion with all the Hogwarts Ruins, silver of course.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts," Harry announced.

"Who would've thought?" Hermione smirked.

"Quidditch." Finally, Ron showed his locket as well. _Really? That's fantastic!_

Hermiome's smile had never been so wide.

"Wait, so, we're all going to be Professors?" Harry asked.

"I'm actually considered an instructor," Ron clarified. They all laughed again. The imbued tension from earlier quickly seeped out of Number 4, Privet Drive, away from Little Whinging, and even far, far away from Surrey.

"Until the very end?" Harry whispered, opening up his arms for the both of them.

"Always," Ron and Hermione said in sync as they all sauntered into the kitchen to prepare for one of their first Christmases of many.

**_Fin._ **


End file.
